Ketchup, Catchup, Catsup

It occurred to me the other day that I did not know the etymology of the word ‘ketchup.’ This glaring hole in my personal development could not go unchecked, so being a 10th level nerd (a Nerd Lord), I immediately consulted the internet.

Short answer: No one knows for sure where it originated from. We all could be routinely saying ‘monkey boogers’ in ancient Sumerian.

Long answer: The word may have originated in Asia, where ancient folklore holds that a small village was plagued by an incursion of giant, carnivorous wombats. When the wombats attacked, the people would shout something in their language that vaguely resembles ‘ketchup,’ but which meant ‘run for your lives, lest you be consumed by the giant, man-eating, wombats!’ The folktales go on to say that eventually a great hero arose and slew them all (the wombats, not the villagers), which is why there are no more wombats outside Australia. However, the villagers, being unable to farm because of the wombats would soon starve. The simple solution, of course, was to eat the newly deceased wombats. Thus, ‘ketchup’ came to mean ‘feasting on the remains of wombats.’ How this word came to mean ‘tomato sauce’ is a mystery.

Boring answer: It may come from the Malay word ‘kechap’ which means ‘fish sauce.’ Sailors brought the sauce back to Europe where it was made with local ingredients and eventually tomatoes. And viola, ketchup.

Cheers,
-Jason